Deep into the third year of a historic drought, Californians are finally starting to take water conservation seriously.
Statewide, urban residents cut water use 7.5 percent in July, compared with July of last year, according to new figures released Tuesday afternoon.
Those savings show progress from June, when overall water use was down 4.4 percent from the previous year, and from May — when it was up 1 percent.
“People are stepping up,” said Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the State Water Resources Control Board. “It’s not enough yet, but we are heading in the right direction.”
The board’s survey of 362 cities, private water companies and water districts — the most extensive so far during California’s drought — continues to show Northern Californians are cutting water use more than Southern Californians.
Bay Area residents slashed water use 13 percent in July compared with July 2013, while residents in the Los Angeles and San Diego areas cut use only 1.7 percent.
The region with the most savings was the Sacramento area, which saw a 19.5 percent water reduction.
Some of that difference is because of weather patterns, water officials said.
Another reason is that Los Angeles and San Diego already use less water per capita than other parts of the state — 152 gallons a day in L.A. and 166 in San Diego — compared with 279 gallons a day in Sacramento and 313 in Fresno.
“In Southern California we have been doing conservation since 1991. As demand hardens, it becomes harder for the consumer to know what they can do to save water,” said Ken Weinberg, water resources director with the San Diego County Water Authority.
One thing was clear from the new numbers: Cities with mandatory water rationing, water cops and fines for using more than an allotted amount showed the most savings.
The city with the most savings was tiny Cambria, a coastal community in San Luis Obispo County whose perennial water shortages have been exacerbated by the drought.
With strict rationing and a limit on new home construction because of water shortages, Cambria reduced water use 49 percent in July compared with the previous year.
Most California cities have asked residents for voluntary conservation, have banned wasting water — such as washing cars without hose nozzles — and have passed rules limiting lawn watering to certain days of the week.
Strict rules help
But cities with strict monthly water allotments saw massive savings.
Pleasanton and Livermore, with mandatory 25 percent cutbacks and fines for not reaching that percentage, cut use by 36.7 percent and 35 percent, respectively.
Santa Cruz, which limits all homes to 10 units of water a month and issues penalties of $50 per unit above that, saw a 25.1 percent reduction.
“Fines do make a big difference,” Marcus said. “Over time, we may find that there are areas that need to up their enforcement.”
Some cities actually showed increases in water use. Wasco, near Bakersfield, saw a 29.8 percent increase. San Clemente was up 11.8 percent, Lodi 8.6 percent.
Experts said the reasons why some cities increased their water consumption varied widely.
“We’ve got different geography, different climate, different housing patterns. There’s a lot of complexity,” said David Bolland with the Association of California Water Agencies.
In the Bay Area, the largest water providers showed savings comparable to each other. The San Jose Water Co., a private company that has 1 million customers in Silicon Valley, cut water use 10.5 percent in July compared with July 2013.
San Francisco cut water use 6.9 percent. The Contra Costa Water District reduced water consumption 10.6 percent. And the East Bay Municipal Utility District cut consumption by 11.6 percent.
California is in its worst drought since 1977. By some measures it’s the worst in a century.
Major reservoirs are only about a third full. Rainfall totals in most major cities last winter were about 40 percent of normal. Farmers are desperately pumping groundwater to keep crops alive. Wildfire risk is at extreme levels. And wildlife is suffering as creeks run dry.
Hopes for a soaking El Niño winter this year have faded. Last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported there is a 65 percent chance of El Niño conditions starting later this year.
But ocean temperatures are only slightly warmer than normal, leading most researchers to predict a mild El Niño, the type that historically has meant a wetter-than-normal winter in California only about half the time, instead of a strong El Niño — which has resulted in wet winters much more often.
In July, Marcus’ agency passed rules requiring all cities, private companies and other urban water providers in California with more than 3,000 customers to report their water use to the state every month.
“We felt the need to do this because water agencies were resting on their laurels,” Marcus said. “And that is playing Russian roulette with Mother Nature, which is a bad idea. In Australia, they just had a drought that lasted a decade. They had to take drastic measures that they wouldn’t have needed if they had begun conserving earlier.”
Fines allowed
In addition to the new reporting rules, the state water board also voted in July to require water providers to limit the days when people could water lawns and to ban wasteful watering practices.
The new rules permitted fines of up to $500, although most cities and water agencies have chosen not to issue monetary penalties for violations.
Marcus said Tuesday that because of the positive trend the state water board will not issue tougher rules over the next few months.
But, she added, that could happen if water use increases or the drought worsens because of a dry winter.
Paul Rogers covers resources and environmental issues. Contact him at 408-920-5045. Follow him at Twitter.com/PaulRogersSJMN
